A. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the field of lawn, garden, and home care and more specifically to a combination hand held string trimmer/blower device for use in cutting vegetation and clearing sidewalks, driveways, and the like free from debris.
B. Description of the Related Art
It is typically known in the art that a string trimmer is used to cut vegetation such as grass and the like using either one or more cutting strings or cutting blades. It is also known in the art to use a separate blower device to clear debris from sidewalks, driveways, and the like. There have been several attempts to combine a string trimmer with a blower either by providing a separate blower attachment or by incorporating both functions into one device.
One such example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,577 to Hansen et al. The Hansen patent discloses a blower attachment for use on a line trimmer. In order to use this invention one must remove a fastening device, then remove the string trimmer head before attaching the blower mechanism. This is a very tedious and time-consuming manner in which to convert a string trimmer to a blower. In addition, due to the configuration of the blower attachment, it is likely that the blower attachment will only fit on a limited number of line trimmers.
Another example of a combination trimmer/blower apparatus is disclosed in U.S. patent application 2001/0027610 to Wheeler et al. The Wheeler patent discloses a combination string and blade trimmer with an auxiliary blower. The disadvantage of this invention is that the blower continuously operates during operation of the trimmer. These dual functions operating at the same time may not be desirable to the operator.
The present invention provides methods and apparatuses for a new and improved combination blower/string trimmer device, which is simple in design, effective in use, and overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages.